Belleek Classic Nativity Angel

No Christmas Nativity scene is complete without at an angel, and from our Belleek Living collection comes one in beautiful porcelain, a perfect addition to your holiday decorations. Delicate parian china accentuates the folds in her dress and the details of her wings, and her robe and diadem are ornamented with shimmering 24-karat gold. Her hair and face have been painted by hand in exquisite detail. She kneels, with her tiny hands in prayer, standing just under six inches high.

Belleek has been a household name for over 160 years, and since its inception, the company has been Ireland’s premier fine porcelain producer. When John Caldwell Bloomfield took ownership of his family’s estate in the small market town of Belleek in Co. Fermanagh, he was eager to establish a business to help the area prosper after the hard years of the Famine. He happened to be an amateur mineralogist and noticed his land was rich with the necessary minerals for making clay. Coupled with the nearby River Erne, which could power a mill to grind those minerals to make “slip” (liquid clay), he realized he had the ideal location for running a pottery. Only a few years later, the business was up and running, creating utilitarian tableware. An English invention that predates Belleek Pottery by a few years, however, would change the company’s history.

Pottery had been a staple of European crafts for thousands of years, but in 1845, English potters invented a liquid form of fine porcelain that they dubbed “parian” for its similar appearance to marble from the Greek island of Paros. The off-white colored clay quickly became popular for creating figurines and small ornamental dishes. Because it was worked in liquid form and poured into premade molds, it could take on an intricately detailed surface. Crucially, this also made parianware easier to mass produce than handmade pieces. Belleek began experimenting with the form, and in 1863, released several parian items into their collection. The new form became immensely popular—even among the English royal family! The beauty and elegance of Belleek pieces are timeless, and many of their early parianware items can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Parianware quickly became the company’s trademark, and even today, Belleek is known for their bisque porcelain tableware, ornaments, and figurines with their delicate textures and glossy finishes. All of their classic porcelain pieces are glazed in the signature pearlescent white, and any decoration—like our Nativity Angel’s exquisite face, or the tiny shamrocks that adorn many of Belleek’s cherished collections—are painted by expert hands. The company places such a high premium on ensuring each piece of parianware is perfect that it has instituted what is called the “16 Hands” process, so named for the 16 different different people who guide each and every teacup, platter, and figurine from design to packaging. Only truly flawless products pass this rigorous creation and inspection process, ensuring the angel who watches over your Christmas Nativity will be perfect, ready to pass down from generation to generation.

Our Nativity Angel, with her serene and lovely gaze, makes an ideal Christmas or Communion gift. Though she makes a perfect accompaniment to Belleek’s Classic Nativity set, she can also stand alone as a year-round decoration to watch over the home.